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1/28/2013

American Librarian Association Awards for HarperCollins titles

HarperCollins Children's Book

HarperCollins Children’s Books announced today that seven titles have been honored at the 2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

Katherine Applegate received the prestigious John Newbery Medal for The One and Only Ivan. The John Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Sir Terry Pratchett earned a Michael L. Printz Honor for Dodger. The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit.

Illustrator Jon Klassen was awarded a Caldecott Honor for Extra Yarn. The Caldecott Medal Winners and Honors are awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Sarah Lean earned the Schneider Family Book Award in the middle-grade category for A Dog Called Homeless, which honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.

Author Eric Litwin and illustrator James Dean received a Geisel Award Honor for Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.

emily m. danforth’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a finalist for the William C. Morris Award, which honors a first-time author writing for teens, celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.

Louise Erdrich received an Alex Award for The Round House, presented to the ten best adult books that appeal to teen audiences.

Susan Katz, President and Publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Books, said, “We congratulate the authors and illustrators on their well-deserved accolades and we thank the ALA for recognizing each of these outstanding books.”

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate (Newbery Medal Winner) is an unforgettable and uplifting fantasy novel inspired by the real-life story of Ivan, a gorilla who lived for three decades in a circus-themed mall in Washington State. Written in the tradition of classic animal fantasies for children, The One and Only Ivan explores the power of friendship, art, and hope with humor and touching poignancy. In 2012, The One and Only Ivan was honored as a School Library Journal Best Children’s Book, a Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Book, an Amazon Best Book of the Year for Middle Grade, a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book, and a New York Public Library Best 100 Books for Reading and Sharing and was included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List for 2013–14. Katherine Applegate’s many books for children include the Roscoe Riley Rules chapter book series (HarperCollins) and Home of the Brave (Feiwel & Friends), which received the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Best Fiction in 2008. With her husband, Michael Grant, Applegate wrote the hugely popular series Animorphs (Scholastic), which has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide. You can visit her online at www.katherineapplegate.com.

DODGER by Sir Terry Pratchett (Michael L. Printz Honor) combines high comedy with deep wisdom in a funny and suspenseful story of one remarkable boy’s rise in a complex and fascinating world. “Unexpected, drily funny, and full of the pathos and wonder of life” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Dodger received five starred reviews upon its release this fall. Sir Terry Pratchett is the author of over three dozen novels and one of the world’s best-selling novelists writing in the English language. His books have sold more than 75 million copies worldwide. Pratchett’s many honors include the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Award for lasting contribution to young adult literature (2011), the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award (2010), the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature and a Michael L. Printz Honor, both awarded for Nation (2009), and Britain’s Carnegie Medal in Literature, awarded to Pratchett in 2001 for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. Pratchett was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in 2009. In 2008, Pratchett was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease. He resides in England. You can visit him online at www.terrypratchettbooks.com.

Reminiscent of picture books by Maurice Sendak, Ruth Krauss, and Crockett Johnson, EXTRA YARN by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Caldecott Honor) has all the hallmarks of a new classic. A Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winner and a New York Times bestseller, the book also received four starred reviews and was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal, the Chicago Public Library, and the New York Public Library. “On a cold afternoon, in a cold little town, where everywhere you looked was either the white of snow or the black of soot from chimneys, Annabelle found a box filled with yarn of every color.” It seemed like an ordinary box—but it turned out it wasn’t. With stylized, understated illustrations by Jon Klassen, Extra Yarn shows how hope and kindness can transform a community. Jon Klassen grew up in Niagara Falls, Canada, and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He is the author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling picture books That Is Not My Hat and I Want My Hat Back, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2011. He is also the illustrator of Cat’s Night Out by Caroline Stutson and the middle-grade series the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood. He also created concept art for Coraline, the stop-motion animated film based on the book by Neil Gaiman. You can visit him online at www.burstofbeaden.com.

Mac Barnett is a writer living in California. He’s also on the board of directors of 826LA, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center, and founder of the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers. His picture books include Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, Chloe and the Lion, Mustache!, Guess Again!, and Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World). You can visit him online at www.macbarnett.com.

Debut author Sarah Lean’s A DOG CALLED HOMELESS (the Schneider Family Book Award — Middle Grade) is the gentle and touching story of a young girl’s friendship with a homeless dog that mends her family’s heart. A year after her mother’s death, fifth grader Cally Fisher has started seeing her mom around the neighborhood, wearing a bright red raincoat and walking alongside a big scraggly dog, and although she can’t stop talking about it, no one believes her. Abandoned by friends at school and frustrated by an equally depressing home life—her once-lively father is distracted and withdrawn—Cally volunteers for a “sponsored silence” school charity fund-raiser and discovers not speaking has its challenges but its rewards as well. A story about love, loss, and true friendship, A Dog Called Homeless offers an insightful portrayal of grief and healing. Sarah Lean lives in England with her husband, son, and dog. She worked as a page planner for a newspaper, a stencil maker, a teacher, and a gardener before writing her debut novel for children.

In PETE THE CAT AND HIS FOUR GROOVY BUTTONS (Geisel Honor) Pete the Cat is wearing his favorite shirt—the one with four totally groovy buttons. But when one falls off, does Pete cry? Goodness no! He just keeps on singing his song. From the national bestselling team of James Dean (creator/illustrator) and Eric Litwin (author) comes this groovy counting picture book that has spent 35 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. James Dean and Eric Litwin are an artist and children’s musician/performer, respectively, living in Atlanta, Georgia. You can visit James Dean online at www.petethecat.com and Eric Litwin at www.ericlitwin.com.

emily m. danforth’s debut novel, THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST (Morris Award Finalist), garnered four starred reviews, glowing reviews in Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, NPR.org, and the Boston Globe, and features in USA Today, Slate.com, NPR.com, and more. When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they’ll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl. But that relief doesn’t last, and Cam is soon forced to live with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone (as her grandmother might say), and Cam becomes an expert at both. Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship—one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, ultrareligious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to “fix” her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self—even if she’s not quite sure just who that is. The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a stunning and unforgettable literary debut about discovering who you are and finding the courage to live life according to your own rules. emily m. danforth was born and raised in Miles City, Montana. She has an MFA in fiction from the University of Montana and a PhD in creative writing from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She lives with her wife in Providence, where she teaches creative writing and literature courses at Rhode Island College and is coeditor of The Cupboard (Literary Pamphlet). This is her first novel. You can visit her online at www.emdanforth.com.

THE ROUND HOUSE by Louise Erdrich (Alex Award) was the 2012 National Book Award Winner for fiction. Louise Erdrich is the author of fourteen novels as well as volumes of poetry, short stories, children’s books, and a memoir of early motherhood. Her novel Love Medicine won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Last Report on The Miracles At Little No Horse was a finalist for the National Book Award. The Plague of Doves won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She lives in Minnesota and is the owner of Birchbark Books, an independent bookstore.